


Coyotes

by Dannidorina



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Baby's first fanfiction!, F/F, F/M, Highschool AU, Lil bit of unrequited, M/M, McHanzo - Freeform, Slow Burn, family au, highschool, im going to die
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-25
Updated: 2017-09-07
Packaged: 2018-10-23 20:05:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 17,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10726269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dannidorina/pseuds/Dannidorina
Summary: ~~THIS FANFICTION IS ALSO POSTED ON FANFICTION.NET~~Jesse 'McCree' Reyes is suffocating silently in the cramped walls of his hometown, and is just barely getting by. All of a sudden, he has to deal with another two people living under his roof, and life got a little bit more complicated.Hanzo Shimada never asked to be shipped off to the states, but here he is. Now he has to deal with his obnoxious roommates while experiencing the horrors of the American High School system.Both are annoyed, both don't want to deal with the other one, but they realize there is a lot more in common between their worlds then they thought.((Danni here! So my irl friend convinced me to post Coyotes on AO3 as well as fanfic.net since more people would see it, so here we are. If you read this already at fanfic.net, you should reread it! A lot of grammatical errors were fixed and it's just better in general lol.))





	1. Chapter 1: Intro

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! Danni here. Not much to say for the first chapter but this: I am posting the first four chapters all at once very quickly since they are all coming over from Fanfiction.net. So there probably wont be authors notes for these next four chapters! Enjoy, and happy trails~

Nothing ever happened in Santa Fe, nothing notable anyways. The City of Firsts, a quiet town where people began their lives, or spent their lives aimlessly. Jesse ‘McCree’ Reyes learned this a long time ago, most likely from his dad. His father wasn't the softest type, always on edge about something, whether it be work or daily nuisance. His dad had grown up only a block away from where they currently lived and went to the exact same schools his children went to. When asked why he didn't move or even consider living anywhere else, he simply replied that he had nowhere else to go. Just like most people born there.

Jesse had plenty of places to go. He wanted to explore the winding streets of Los Angeles, ride across the open plains of Wyoming, trek the jungle city that was New York, and even endure the heat and danger that lurked in Florida. Sure he had nothing waiting for him there, relatives or otherwise, but he'd make do. He just wished he could escape the ever-compressing walls of Santa Fe.

Cool air rushed in from the window, a rare feeling in the blazing desert. The sun had already dipped far beyond the horizon; animals from the desert started to chirp and chatter as they grew more active. Jesse laid on the small couch, his legs sprawling out over the side. His trusty hat covered his face, covered with the scent of worn fur and smoke. His sister was on the matching chair next to him curled into a ball. She was doing something on her laptop and cackling, a daily occurrence. Jesse was still stumped as to how his sister could be so enveloped in her technology when they literally lived on the edge of not one-but THREE-ranches. She could have taken up farming or horseback riding, but she chose the one activity no one else in the city had a knack for.

Their tiny home fit snugly onto the square of land they owned. There was a barn that occupied the very upper hand right corner of the plot, but they didn't own any animals to fill the space. Jesse and his dad used it as a shooting range, the floorboards and walls were riddled with bullets. He was only allowed to shoot when his father was around, since he wasn't seen as the most responsible type. His trusty gun, Peacekeeper, always held under firm lock and key by his pops.

Jesse stirred only slightly when his dad opened the front door and stepped inside. He heard soft footsteps, not being exactly sure where his dad was in the room, and was suddenly smacked in the face through his hat.

“HOLY MOTHER OF-- WHAT DO YOU WANT???” Jesse shot up and snached his hat defensively, looking up in shock. “Aren't you forgetting something?” Gabriel Reyes’ voice could freeze a man’s blood; his scorn was not overlooked by the teen. Jesse took a few mental steps back, scouring his mind. He realized after a few seconds,

“Oh shit.”

“Oh shit is right.” Gabriel’s faced pinched with anger, “I'm this close to locking you both in the basement and not letting you out for a week, comprende?”

“Hey why was I dragged into this?” His sister shot up from her screen, “I'm not the one who acted like a huge pinche idiota-”

“Language.” Gabriel seethed through gritted teeth.

“Sombra if I'm going down, I'm taking you with me.” Jesse teased. Gabriel sighed, pushed Jesse’s legs off the side of the couch and sat down next to him. He rubbed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. Something was off.

“What's up? How did the meeting go?” Jesse didn't want to prod him too much, but he'd rather not leave things unsaid.

“Horrible, as always,” Gabe started, “but just extra horrible today. Half the men were late, and one of them resigned.”

“Who?”

“Manolo.”

“Ugh, figures.” Jesse knew all the gossip from his dad’s ‘club’. They were a very large group of men and women from around the city would get together and try to make the area safer from animals. Coyotes were a huge problem, but so were some predatory birds and other critters.

“But we got another issue,” Gabe started, “the Manchesters are moving out of town.”

Sombra almost threw her laptop across the room, “The Manchesters? Seriously? God, they were so pretentious no wonder they didn't like our 'humble little town'.” Sombra mocked a very posh accent.

“Pretty much, but they're also sick of how small everything is in comparison to where they've previously live.” Gabe got up from the couch and moved into the kitchen, “They're moving up to Sacramento I think, maybe Santa Rosa? I don't remember.”

Jesse turned back onto the couch, stretching himself out, “I don't get it, what's the problem?”

“The what?” Gabe stuck his head back out from the worn wood door frame to the kitchen.

“You said it was an issue, but you never said why.”

“Oh,” Gabe stood in the doorway, “well they were a part of a group at the high school that houses foreign students, and now the group has an opening.”

“Yeah, still not seeing how this is an issue.”

“The council that runs it recommended our family to join.”

Face scrunched, still questioning what she had just heard, Sombra looked up from her tech, “Wait,what.”


	2. Chapter 2: I Never agreed to this

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2? Already? Yes. They're all done. All four chapters. 
> 
> Nah just kidding there is definitely going to be more than 4 chapters. I just have 4 done already. BTW I update almost every week. Happy trails!

“Ok this is just too weird,” Jesse broke the silence over a plate of mashed potatoes, “Why our family? There are thousands of kids who go to McCullough, why were we outed?”

  
“We were not outed; I actually believe this is a good idea. It's just an issue because it happened too fast. We’re having a big issue getting everything we need to house two more people. I haven't even started acquiring bedding or drawers… They threw this onto us,” Gabe picked up his empty plate and walked back into the kitchen. He actually took the time to cook something for the family, a rare and treasured occasion. Jesse scooped another blob of potato onto his plate.

“Ok, sure, but we can deal. And I never said it wasn’t a good idea, I think it’s pretty damn cool actually, but why us?” Jesse turned his head to his sister sitting across from him, since Sombra was wide eyed and smiling, “What?”

“I know why we were chosen,” Sombra says in a hushed sing-song whisper, “I know who fucking runs the board, oh my god. Jesse, this is too good to be true!”

“Who runs the board?” Jesse matched Sombra’s volume.

“Jack Morrison.” Sombra spat with a grin.

“Hana’s dad?” Jesse knew Hana pretty well, but that goes for everyone. No one at McCullough High didn’t know Hana Morrison.

“Yeah, yeah her dad,” Sombra rambled together, “That’s not the point!”

“What is the point?” Gabe walked back into the room to grab more dishes but caught the tailwind of their conversation. His voice was dark and brooding, but also curious.

Sombra looked up mischievously, “I think you and I both know. And I know that you know that I know everything about everyone.”

Jesse took a mental step back, “I’m gonna need you to repeat tha-”

“Nevermind, I don’t have time to map out everything I say to you, Cabrón,” Sombra spat to Jesse, then swiveled back to her dad, “I know he has a huuuge crush on you, like a gross old man crush.”

Jesse and Gabe both were taken aback. Jesse looked to his dad, he was motionless, more confused than angry or surprised.

“You both don’t see it?” Sombra looked at both the men’s confused expressions, “Have you even seen his facebook page? First, he’s gay. Has been out for a long time. Second, In every school-board outing we’ve ever gone on with the Morrisons, Jack has some kind of picture with you, dad. And third, his daughter has even been saying stuff at school that she’s grossed out by the old man crush thing!”

“Sombra,” Gabe rubbed his temples, “that doesn’t say anything, Jack didn’t even recommend me to the program.”

“Then who did?” Jesse stood up, asking a bit more aggressively than before. He was done dancing around the issue.

“Maybe I did!” Gabe snapped, “Maybe this isn’t some big conspiracy and I had us signed up for a long time! Maybe I want you two to meet some people outside of this tiny town, and get to embrace other cultures.”

Gabe backed down a bit, “I raised Jesse here his entire life, and Sombra, you at least got to be raised outside the country. I want you both to experience some type of outside communication, I don’t want you two to be stuck here like I was. And maybe, just maybe, this will put you in your place.”

  
“Put us in our place?” Sombra piped up, “What does that mean?”

“Don’t get me started,” Gabe shot back, “Sombra you were arrested for hacking into the school’s grading system, and Jesse, I still haven’t payed off the last of those speeding tickets.” He sighed, “I just want you two to realize there is more to this world than tearing up a tiny town.”

Jesse sat back down, tilting his hat down slightly, soaking in all the new info. Sure everything his dad said was true, he knew that. It just hurt to think that their dad thought less of them than he thought.

“There are two brothers coming to stay with us for one year, one is a senior and the other is a junior. They’re Japanese and are fluent in, like, six different languages. Honest to god, they sound like proteges. They’re coming in a few weeks.”

Jesse walked up to his room after that, leaving the rest of the dishes to a protesting Sombra and an understanding father. Even though Gabe was angry, he knew his son must be as well. He let Jesse do what he wished everyone else let him do, blow off steam.

Jesse went to bed early thinking of the desert and his pistol in his dad’s cabinet.

* * *

 

The clicking of his prosthetic feet on the airport’s clean tile made Hanzo’s skin crawl. The noise was echoing, harrowing, empty. Currently he was in Los Angeles, simply transferring from one international flight to a domestic one. However, his plane was delayed for an entire day, leaving the two brothers with a few options, explore the large airport, sit and wait, or go outside and explore. Hanzo would have been perfectly content with sitting and waiting, if it weren’t for his brother.

“Han-zoooooo,” Genji whined from the seat next to him, “I’m bored…”

“Then play on your phone.”

“I already did thaaat,” Genji sounded like a child, “Couldn’t we just go outside?”

“We’d have to go through security again.”

“I don’t care, I want to go see LA.”

“We’re not even near anything special, and it would take us forever to get anywhere well known.”

“Still don’t care, my phone says there is an In n Out burger AND a mall right by us.”

That piqued Hanzo’s interest, “You? The king of fast-food-makes-me-sick wants to go to a fast food place?”

“In n Out is different,” Genji shot up, “It’s like super famous and only found around the west coast, and you can’t be on the west coast without having i-”

“If you wish,” Hanzo gave in. He’d rather let his brother get his energy out before they got on the plane, and he wanted to stop the messy string of words fumbling out of his mouth.

The two walked out of the terminal, heading through baggage claim and out onto the roadways. Hanzo called an Uber, and Genji excitedly bounced around, admiring the locals and tourist moving throughout the airport. When the car came, they swiftly got in, and sped off to the restaurant.

It wasn’t anything special to Hanzo, he never liked American food. He did notice a little girl from the table across looking at his long hair and smiling brightly. He smiled back, small and discreet, and the girl giggled. She looked at her mom and pointed to Hanzo, the mom giggled and whispered something in the girl’s ear. The girl’s face drooped a bit, and then she got up and walked over to Hanzo.

“Excuse me?” the little girl adorably said over the ruckus in the restaurant, unaware her mother was quickly rushing to her side to bring her back to the table, “Are you a guy or a girl?”

Genji almost spat out his food, Hanzo was taken aback. By the time the girl’s mother showed up around the corner, the little girl was laughing at Hanzo’s shocked expression.

“I am so sorry!” Said the mother, “Curious little one isn’t she? I’m sorry she bothered you.”

“No worries,” Hanzo said over his brother’s muffled laughter, then he looked at the little girl, “I am a man, my hair is just this long because of where I’m from. It’s traditional.”

“Where are you from?” the girl spoke up again, a few diners stopped to watch the funny conversation.

“I am from Japan,” He said with a smile, “I’m just visiting America.”

“Cool!” The little girl laughed, then ran to her mother’s side.

“I’m afraid it’s time for us to go, so sorry again for her,” the mother guided the girl away.

“No problem,” Hanzo said nonchalantly, then looked at his brother, “What are you laughing about.”

“You’re just not safe from kids,” Genji snickered, “Even in Japan they can’t seem to figure out your gender.”

“Just like father can’t seem to figure out how you are his son.” Too harsh a blow, Genji was taken aback.

“That’s just cold, Hanzo,” He said jokingly, with a bit of underlying truth, “Too much.” He got up and gathered both of the brothers trays. Once they cleaned up, they checked on their flight. The flight had moved back up, they were able to get back on their way to New Mexico.

They made their way back up to LAX, realizing the walk from the In n Out was not far whatsoever. They sped through security, and waited at the gate for a few hours before their flight. As they waited, Hanzo got a call from someone not in his contacts. Hesitantly, Hanzo picked up the phone.

“Hello?” Hanzo heard bits and scraps of conversation until one voice took over into the receiver. It was familiar.

“Hanzo? Hey, it's Gabriel.” Oh, the host parent, “Are you two ok? We saw the confusion with the plane time.”

“Do not worry, Mr. Reyes, the plane was pushed back up. We were able to get a bite to eat anyways beforehand.”

“Good, good. We can't wait to meet you later, have a safe flight.”

“Thank you Mr. Reyes.”

The two brothers boarded the plane, and were able to snatch two seats near the front of the plane. Hanzo was rather unexcited, already a bit homesick, and full of regret for leaving. Genji was as excited as a kid on Christmas. That was until he threw up half way through the flight.

“Remind me to never let you eat fast food ever again.” Hanzo muttered into his hand as he covered his face.


	3. Chapter 3: Meet and Greet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Real A/N will be posted with the following chapters, do not fret. I'm just having fun with these 4 chapters.

Jesse’s mom’s old SUV smelled like old fresheners and dust. The car had been camping out next to the barn, but it was the only car that would be able to fit his family and the Shimadas. He backed the car away from the wooden structure and drove on the gravelly road back to the house. Skeletons of old pens and coops for animals littered the space along the road.

The car pulled up to the house, Gabriel and Sombra walked down from the porch. Sombra stole shotgun and Gabe forced Jesse into the back.

The ride to the airport was miserable. The air conditioner didn’t start up for twenty minutes and Sombra was blasting her god-awful music.

“Well at least it’s better than your demonic country music,” Sombra chided him when he tried to change the channel.

“But this- this is garbage!” Jesse shot back, “It’s the same song over and over again with little tweaks!”

“You both wouldn’t know good music if it snuck up behind you and shot you in the back,” Gabe chuckled. For the rest of the ride they were silent; Sombra was on her phone, Gabe was trying to avoid horrible drivers on the freeway, and Jesse was taking a nap.

They finally arrived at the Sunport, the international airport in Albuquerque. Jesse gently stirred from a dreamless sleep, the warm sun shining through the window. It was quiet and calm, and Jesse was completely wrapped with the warmth of the day. Gabe broke the silence when he picked up his phone.

“Hello? Oh hello Hanzo. Ok then, we’ll park and wait for you in baggage claim.” Gabe hung up, “They just landed, so we’ll go inside and wait for them.”

“Oh!” Sombra straightened up from her seat, “I have the perfect idea!” She opened up the compartment in front of her and pulled out an old notebook. She tore out a sheet, and grabbed a pen from the main console. She held up her masterpiece triumphantly; ‘Shimada Bros’ was written boldly in the middle.

“Good idea,” Jesse took the sign and folded it. He stuck it in his front pocket, and it awkwardly stuck out like a pocket square.

They parked in the shabby parking lot across the street and walked over to the airport. The amount of people there today was astounding, waves of men and women seemed to ripple through the terminal.

The carousels of luggage were surrounded by crowds, who were pushing each other to get their belongings. The family walked to the door that connected baggage claim to the terminals and waited, Sombra was slightly bouncing up and down.

“This is so cool,” she said under her breath. Jesse pulled the sign out from his front pocket and they waited.

As they stood, Gabe was sending out email after email for work and Sombra was texting some kid from robotics club. Jesse was eagerly scanning the crowd, looking for any sign of the Shimada Bros. The only issue was that he didn't know what exactly to look for.

He had talked to Genji a couple times over face time, but his brother was never available. Genji seemed nice, very excitable, but a good person. His hair was short and springy, and his face and eyes were incredibly soft and joyful. However, in a crowd this large, it was near impossible to search for anyone.

Jesse sighed, stood up straight, and waited. His eyes wandered outside, looking at the bustling traffic.

* * *

 

Genji was half-asleep, nauseous, and clinging for his life onto his brother’s shoulder. Hanzo walked through the crowd with annoyance, butting through traffic and groups. He had had enough traveling, enough airplanes, and enough damn airports to last him a lifetime.

The terminals led down a flight of stairs to baggage claim, where the father of the host family, Mr. Reyes, should be meeting them. Hanzo stuck to the side of the railing, zipping past people meandering down at their own pace. When Hanzo hit the bottom step, his brother let go of him.

“Eughhh…” Genji groaned, “What… time is it here?”

“It's only an hour off from LA,” Hanzo said, grabbing his brother’s arms and walking him over to the side, “Mr. Reyes should be meeting us here, are you ok?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Genji sighed, “Just wish that plane ride was five minutes longer, that nap was too short.”

“How could you be ok with five more minutes in those metal cages of death?” Hanzo shuddered, “I'm never traveling this far from home again.”

They swam through the ocean of tourists and locals, trying to reach the outskirts of the crowd. When they finally broke through, Hanzo noticed his brother waving to a group of people. That's when Hanzo first saw them.

The one in the middle strung an awkward chord in Hanzo’s mind; he was tall, his hair was wavy and had a slight curl to it, and his stubble overran his face like an unmowed lawn. He held a sign with ‘Shimada bros’ messily scribbled on it, and shifted uncomfortably when he noticed Hanzo’s stare. The girl next to him was much tinier, and was excitedly waving back to Genji. Her hair was to her shoulders, framing her face sharply, and her nails looked like they could cut paper. She was wearing a t-shirt with a roomba-like device and ‘McCullough Robotics’ printed on it. Hanzo assumed the last man on the end was Gabe, who he briefly talked to on the phone. Hanzo could only think of him in one word: scary. He was tall, only a few inches taller than his son, but still intimidating. He was smiling, but weakly, and his eyes seemed dark and tired.

“Aniki, they’re over there!” Genji said excitedly.

“I assumed so.” Hanzo replied, “You’ll have to introduce me.”

Genji nodded with an enthusiastic grin, then pulled his brother forward to the family. The one with the sign was still standing quite stiffly.

“Dude, you look like you’re about to start drooling, you ok?” Hanzo heard the girl whisper to her brother.

“I- umm…” the brother fumbled, “the name’s Jesse!” His hand shot out quickly to Hanzo, who was taken aback by the jerk. Hanzo took his hand precautiously and shook it, Jesse looked like he was about to faint.

“My name is Hanzo, it is a pleasure to meet you,” Hanzo said, pulling his hand away, “And you are?” He looked at the sister.

“I’m Sombra,” the sister shook Hanzo’s hand, “Your roomie for the next year and a half.”

“Sombra!!” Genji shouted, tackling the girl into a hug. Sombra seemed to react quickly, and reciprocated with a tight squeeze.

“Dude! It’s so nice to finally meet you in person!” Sombra said, laughing, “Definitely different than shouting at you through the voice channel to get to the flag quicker.”

“I don’t reckon you know what they’re talking about?” Hanzo turned to Jesse, who seemed to recover from his daze, “I had no idea they were this close.”

“I believe they played a game with each other online before meeting,” Hanzo replied, “I share a room with him, and I heard him shouting at someone over the comm every match.”

“Oh,” Jesse sighed. Suddenly Hanzo felt a heavy hand pat his shoulder.

“Hanzo, I assume?” Hanzo turned around to find himself face to face with Mr. Reyes.

“Yes,” Hanzo replied, “It is very nice to meet you, Mr. Reyes.”

“Now, now, no formalities in my home. You can just call me Gabe. And if you catch my kids calling me that, tell me so I can beat their asses.” Gabe laughed.

“Guys lets go,” Sombra whined, hip-to-hip with Genji, “I want to get back to town before sundown, they have to see the sunset from the barn on their first night.”

“Ok, but let’s grab their luggage first.” Gabe replied, then turned to the carousels. The group walked over to the baggage claim area, and waited for Gabe and Hanzo to pick out the luggage they brought. In all there were four large bags and one small duffel between the two for a year and a half, plenty of clothing and necessities they would need.

“Y’should’ve just packed a freighter and sailed it here with all this stuff,” Jesse laughed, and Hanzo felt a small twinge of embarrassment. The entire week he took to pack he had the resonating feeling of overdoing it. Did he really need three sweat jackets? Or the winter coat? Regardless of what he thought, his mother wouldn’t let him leave without seven-eighths of his wardrobe. The one thing he regretted leaving in Hanamura was his beloved camera. It was actually his father’s, but practically his. Not having it almost felt like a vital part of him was missing.

  
As they walked outside, Hanzo was assaulted by an extremely hot gust of air. He felt his eyes water a bit, and his connections to his prosthetics grow uncomfortably achy.

“Oh WOW.” Genji exclaimed, leaping back from the door, “That is HOT.” Genji scrambled to get his hoodie off, one with something from an anime printed on it, and revealed his bright green tank top.

Hanzo followed suit, taking off his jacket and tying it around his waist. He was still wearing a long sleeved shirt, which he now regretted, but it wasn’t as warm.

The group got back to the car with all the luggage and stuffed the trunk with the bags. Sombra and Genji squished next to each other in the back, showing each other photos and videos detailing their lives. Jesse offered the front seat to Hanzo, but he politely declined. As the car drove off back to Santa Fe, Hanzo drifted off into a dreamless sleep.


	4. Chapter 4: Mexican food is actually the best

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Weeeee last chapter! The next chapter is being surgically revamped by my beta readers and I, so that will be up this Sunday ish? Hope y'all enjoy!

Jesse mentally smacked his forehead as he recounted his embarrassing blunder at the airport. Hanzo had just caught him off guard. He didn't expect the brother of such a soft, carefree person like Genji to be so… judgemental.

Gabe got a hold of the radio before they left and was playing his music gently in the background. The soft notes, as well as the deserted yet gorgeous scenery of the desert, made the afternoon feel like a dream. Then again, Jesse felt the most flustered he'd ever felt in his life and the dream was drowned out.

Jesse turned around to find Genji and Sombra chatting quietly about something, while giggling and snorting every few seconds. In the corner of his eye, Jesse saw Hanzo sleeping. He turned back to the front, looking out onto the open road. There was absolutely nothing to do. He didn't think to bring his phone, and the only person he could have a conversation with was dead asleep. He was relieved when he saw a sign on the freeway that indicated they were getting close.

“Hey Genji,” Gabe finally spoke up, “could you wake up your brother? We're almost back to town.”

“Yeah, sure,” Genji replied, then shook his brother gently, “Aniki, we’re almost here.”

Hanzo gently stirred, but then responded by scooting farther away from Genji. Genji grabbed Hanzo’s arm again to shake him, but he was swatted away.

“Stop Okami, five more minutes,” Hanzo mumbled.

“Oh goddamnit,” Genji sighed, “Hanzo get up.” Genji shook Hanzo violently, drawing a curse and scowl from his brother.

“Okami?” Sombra asked as Hanzo stretched and sat up.

“Oh,” Hanzo grumbled, “my dog, Okami, wakes me up in Hanamura. I apologize, I'm very tired.”

“No problem,” Gabe responded, “I expected as much. I just wanted to tell you guys that since we got here a lot earlier than expected, we can pick up dinner in town. Does that sound ok? Or would you prefer something at our house?”

“I don't mind, whatever is easiest for you, Mr. Reyes.” Hanzo responded.

“What did I say about formalities, kid? Call me whatever you want, just not Mister. And it’s your choice, either way is fine.”

“Hey! Can we bring them to Los Luchadores?” Sombra piped up.

“Not a bad idea, do you guys like Mexican food?”

“Absolutely!” Genji lit up.

“I don't think I've ever had Mexican food,” Hanzo said, drawing attention from the group. Sombra looked personally offended, while Gabe’s eyebrows shot up.

“Say wut.” Jesse said, flabbergasted.

“This is an emergency then! Los Luchadores it is,” Gabe turned off the highway back into Santa Fe. The old minivan sputtered down the streets of Santa Fe, which were lined by countless stores. Small groups of tourists would occasionally pass by, but it was mainly locals browsing the establishments. Jesse spotted a few kids from his school, and Sombra almost fell out the window waving to one of her robotics buddies. When they arrived at the restaurant it took Gabe a solid five minutes to find parking.

* * *

 

Los Luchadores was a Santa Fe treasure and was practically worshipped by the locals. It was traditional Mexican food, and the family that ran it were the sweetest people in town. When the group entered the restaurant, they were hit with a wave of pleasant aromas. They got seated at one of the larger booths by the window, and were greeted by one of the waiters. The Reyes’ ordered their usuals, while Hanzo and Genji had a bit of trouble deciding what to get. In the end, Hanzo played it safe with tacos, while Genji ordered tamales smothered in a thick mole sauce.

“Holy shit,” Genji whispered into his plate of food, mesmerized. The brothers were generally pleased with the meal, but the level of exhaustion they faced made anything seem more miserable than it actually was. Jesse didn’t see Hanzo smile once the entire night. This was going to be a lot more difficult than he expected.

“So, uhh…” Jesse started, earning the attention of Genji, but not his brother, “How’s Santa Fe so far? It must be pretty different from Japan.”

“It’s really cool! The desert is so amazing, and it’s like, really hot.” Genji said enthusiastically.

“You should have been here in July,” Sombra sarcastically said, “I was afraid of getting heat stroke by just walking near a window.”

“It's pretty hot in Japan too during the summer, but it's different here. It's very dry.”

“The lack of humidity is a great relief,” Hanzo sighed.

“Humidity can't be all that bad,” Jesse turned to Hanzo, “It’s just like, water in the air, right? Ain't that bad…”

“It can be 27 degrees outside but feel like 43.” Hanzo interjected.

“Wait, but that's really cold,” Sombra said confusedly, “Am I missing something here?”

“Yeah that don't sound right,” Jesse said skeptically to Hanzo.

“Lol you don't know about Celsius,” Genji smirked.

“That makes more sense,” Sombra groaned.

“Did you just say - lol? Out loud?” Jesse asked.

“My god,” Hanzo said with a hint of disgust, then turned to Sombra, “You've turned him into a gamer.”

“You think I told THE Genji Shimada about video games?” Sombra laughed, “He introduced me to the game we play. He even told me about some others. He’d brag about his scores in Hanamura’s Arca-”

“OK OK THAT’S ENOUGH!” Genji cut sombra off abruptly.

Hanzo gave Genji a ‘wtf’ look, but Genji just smirked. The rest of the meal went smoothly, and there was small chatter going back and forth about hobbies and interests. Genji was an avid video game player, but also loved to fence.

“Back in Hanamura,” Genji started, “Our family wanted us to learn self defense. We both studied Judo, archery, and fencing. Of course, in the end, we’d only use Judo to defend ourselves, but the other two were fun as well.”

As for Hanzo, he didn't talk much. Jesse was able to figure out that he had a knack for something artistic, what exactly he had no idea, but also that he was extremely handy with a bow.

“Y’know, there's a shooting range a little whiles away from town and-” Jesse started but was cut off.

“McCree?” Jesse turned his head around the booth towards the voice, and was suddenly attacked by an incredibly strong hug, “Oh my god!!! Jesse!”

“Fareeha?” Jesse laughed as he was swung around in the arms of his assailant, “Nice to see you too! Aren’t ya still supposed to be in Egypt? I didn’t think you’d be back until the 19th!”

Fareeha put Jesse back down on the ground, “And miss the last week of summer with you dinguses? No way. Jesus McCree, you really let yourself go!”

“What?” Jesse whined, looking down to his stomach.

Fareeha laughed, “No! No, I meant your beard! I thought you were the most clean shaven guy in school! What happened?”

Jesse ran his hand along his jaw, he really was letting his scruff get out of hand, “I’m not sure, I think my razor broke and I didn’t get another one after that.”

Fareeha smiled brightly, then said something behind her in Arabic. Her mother, Ana, rounded the corner and smiled brightly at Gabriel.

“Hello Gabe,” She tapped him on the shoulder, “It’s good to see you.”

“It’s good to see you too,” Gabe chuckled , “It seems your daughter almost crushed my son’s ribcage.”

“It does seem that way,” Ana turned back to the two teens, still linked around the waist, “Habibti, I’m disappointed. You could have crushed him like a grape, and yet you spare him.”

Ana chuckled, then looked at the Shimada Brothers, “And who are these two? Gabe, don’t tell me you adopted two new kids?”

“I’m Genji! This is my brother, Hanzo. We’re exchange students,” Genji smiled brightly.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Ana said with a small grin, turning to her daughter, “I am Ana Amari. This is my daughter, Fareeha. We must be getting to our table, but it was nice to see you all.”

“Likewise,” Gabe said as the Amaris turned away. Jesse plopped down back in his seat, shooting finger guns to Fareeha, who snorted.

“You were saying?”

Jesse was caught off guard by Hanzo putting his hand in his shoulder and eagerly waiting for a response to something, “What?”

“Shooting range?” Hanzo urged on.

“Oh!” Jesse lit up, this was the first tiny bit of connection the two actually had for the past five hours, “It’s a shooting range that you bring your own weapons to. They just take your money and make sure you don't shoot nobody, but it's a really cool range. They even have an area with movin’ ones!”

“Hmm.” Hanzo responded with a small grunt, and turned back to his food. Jesse’s smile grew weak, where was the eagerness Hanzo had been expressing before?

Gabe payed for the food, and the group filed back into the car. They didn’t live too far away from town, so the ride was fairly short. When Gabe reached the property, the sun was just about to set over the horizon. Sombra urged her dad to hurry up, and they drove up to the barn.

“You two have to see this,” Sombra explained, “To start off your time here in Santa Fe.” The group got out of the van and walked into the barn. Jesse knew what Sombra wanted to show the brothers, but he couldn't see Hanzo enjoying it. He couldn't see Hanzo enjoying anything.


	5. Chapter 5: Falling for you... more like falling from you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a HA There is another chapter!!! I fooled you all!!! Actually I fooled myself, I forgot chapter 1 is labeled intro and I mixed everything up. Well, you get a bonus until sunday.

‘I just want to sleep, I just want to sleep, I just want to sleep,’ was the internal monologue replaying inside Hanzo’s mind. He followed Gabe around the barn to a staircase, trying to ignore his brother and his brother’s friend. He was walking next to Jesse, who kept accidentally bumping into him. Every time the other teen nudged into him, Hanzo got more annoyed. He tried to move away from Jesse, but somehow Jesse kept gravitating back. He hated the physical contact, and was already extremely irritated by his lack of rest; he felt as if he was going to explode.

Sombra led the group up the staircase to the roof excitedly, which had a flat wooden deck built on top. When Hanzo reached the top of the stairs, he felt his prosthetic tug as his foot caught on one of the steps, and he tripped forward. He was caught by two strong arms.

“Don’t go fallin’ on me now! You ok?” Jesse lifted Hanzo back up and brushed his shirt off.

Hanzo batted his hands away,“I am fine. Just lost my footing.” In reality, he was less than fine. He felt his face redden as he shot past Jesse onto the porch. It was unbearable having to be around him, he was so… touchy.

Gabe called down from the stairs, “Ok, I'm heading back to the house. Don't stay out too late, and don't even think about going anywhere else.”

“Got it, pa,” Jesse yelled back with a laugh.

The group took their seats on the porch in the various lawn chairs. Hanzo sat on a plastic white chair, which groaned and cracked underneath him. It was flimsy and cheap, and soured his mood further. Genji sat next to him in a matching chair, but when he sat down, the chair broke from underneath him. He fell backwards and rolled down the curve of the chair’s back. The group looked at Genji, stunned, then Sombra broke into a fit of laughter.

“Laugh all you want,” Genji chuckled mischievously, still on his back. He suddenly flipped over and grabbed Sombra’s legs, “You’re coming down with me!”

He pulled Sombra down, who tumbled over on top of him. The two fell into a fit of laughter, and Sombra began to snort. Hanzo heard Jesse huff, and he turned to look at him. Jesse’s face seemed colder than before, and he could see the gears turning in his mind. What he was thinking, Hanzo couldn’t tell. Suddenly he heard a gasp come from his brother.

“Holy shit,” He said, flabbergasted.

Oranges and pinks illuminated the sky, which was ornamented by a towering orange sun setting in the distance. Birds were circling over mountains not too far away, and the sounds of the animals of the night were starting to ring through the desert. Although Hanzo felt beyond miserable, the scene’s grand beauty was enough to change his grumpy manner temporarily. He let his face relax ever so slightly as he took in the sky.

Genji was absolutely amazed, and he kept chattering on about how ‘he wish he knew how to paint’. Sombra grabbed him by the arm and forced him into a selfie with the sun behind them, which he responded to by striking the most ridiculous pose he could muster. Sombra laughed again, and Hanzo heard another gruff sigh come from behind him. Suddenly, he had a hand on his shoulder.

“What’d ya think?” Hanzo sprung up; Jesse kept spooking him.

“It is quite a sight,” Hanzo replied, steadying himself on the porch, “but I am getting quite tired. How do I get back to the house?”

“I'll take ya,” Jesse smiled, then turned to his sister and Genji, “y'all hurry back soon, I don’t wanna have to escort ya back. I trust you can meet us before dark sets.”

“Ok sure, whatever,” Sombra waved Jesse away as she looked at something on her phone.

The two climbed down the stairs, and Jesse hopped down the last few steps in one mighty leap. It shook the floorboards and Hanzo felt dizzy. As they walked back around the barn, Hanzo could tell something was off; his body was acting strange. He found himself breathing a bit too heavily, and his eyes were going in and out of focus.

“You ok there? You look like you're about to keel over,” Jesse asked, putting out an arm to offer as support.

“I am fine, I'm just extremely tired,” Hanzo mumbled through his lips, noticing how numb his face felt. He pushed Jesse’s arm away, but then quickly grabbed onto it to stop himself from falling.

“Naw you look sick, let’s get you inside.” Jesse propped Hanzo up with his arm, pulling him closer for support. He would have resisted, but Hanzo could feel his body weighing down ever so slowly, as if the earth’s gravity was growing stronger by the minute.

“Woah there,” Jesse was able to stop Hanzo from falling from his arm, and Hanzo weakly grasped onto his host’s shirt sleeve.

“I… do not think I am fine,” Hanzo said, even weaker than before, “Why do you have four eyes?” His head was spinning, his vision fading, and he could hear his heart pounding in his brain. He lifted his hand up weakly to Jesse, but his arm weighed too greatly, and slumped back over.

“Ok that’s it, I’m carrying ya in.” Jesse swung Hanzo up bridal style, running back to the house with the other teen in his arms. Even though they were about the same size, Hanzo just being a bit shorter, Jesse had very few complications getting him back. He entered through the side door, traversing through the kitchen. He knocked Hanzo’s prosthetics into the kitchen island, making a loud clanging noise.

“What in the-,” Jesse pushed away the fabric by Hanzo’s legs and revealed the mechanical workmanship underneath, “Oh, wow, ok let’s get you to the couch.” Jesse walked through the dining room into the living room, and laid Hanzo down onto the tiny couch. Hanzo was able to barely fit on it and he was breathing weakly. He groaned, and flipped his body into the side cushions, snuggling into the worn material.

“Hey pa?” Jesse called up to the second floor, “We have a problem!” Hanzo heard the muffled sound of someone treading down the stairs, and then rapid talk between the two Reyes’ as he drifted into a black sleep.

 

* * *

 

“I just got off the phone with the doctor,” Gabe walked back into the living room, whispering, “He says it’s just exhaustion and that if he doesn’t have a fever, I shouldn’t have to bring him in. Let’s get him to his room, OK?”

Genji and Sombra were sitting on the two comfy chairs and Jesse was standing near the T.V. Jesse nodded, and walked over to the couch. He slipped his arms back under Hanzo, lifting him up softly as not to wake him.

“Wait which room do I bring him to?” Jesse asked his dad. One of the boys would be sharing a room with Jesse, a second bed having been set up on the opposite side, and the other would be staying in the guest room on the first floor.

“Are you crazy? He’s definitely staying on the first floor, I don’t want him to have to deal with stairs,” Gabe sighed, “I feel bad enough that he has to keep wearing his prosthetics until we get his wheelchair, so the least we can do is make it as easy as possible for him.”

“I do want to point out, you never told me he had prosthetics.”

“What?”

“You never told me he had prosthetics, I just saw them as I carried him in.”

Gabe grew angry, “It was all in the file I gave you. We even talked about it at dinner last week! You helped me fix up the guest for him so he’d have an easy place to sleep.”

“What file? And I don’t remember havin’ that conversation.”

“Jesus Christ Jesse! Just get him to his room! We will talk later.” Gabe walked back towards the staircase, “I have work to do, get him in bed, and put his bags in his room. We’re not done here.”

Jesse muttered ‘fuck’ and turned back to the two Juniors, “I’m fucked.”

“Ehh Hanzo wouldn’t have cared,” Genji shrugged, “I think he’d rather keep the knowledge of his prosthetics more personal. And you won’t be needing that wheelchair, he refuses to use one. I’m surprised he even let you pick him up!”

Jesse chuckled nervously, “He didn’t actually, he was basically unconscious when I picked him up. When I first offered support, he pushed me away.”

Genji chuckled, “Typical Hanzo. I’ll follow after you with his luggage.”

“Yeah, ok,” Jesse started to walk towards the guest, “Thank you, partner. I really appreciate the extra help.” He threw up a fake smile, and then walked up the stairs. In reality, Jesse in no way liked Genji. He saw the little smiles and chats Genji had with his sister. Only one thought resided in his mind, they were dating, and he would make sure that Genji didn’t crush his sister’s heart. In fact, he thought it would be better to crush him first, and make sure he knows what kind of wrath would be unleashed if he dared hurt her.

He walked down the hallway, passing a doorway into the kitchen and the office space, and arrived at the guest room. Jesse nudged his hand over to the doorknob and was able to turn it without disturbing Hanzo, who was fast asleep in his arms. The guest room was not very large, but large enough to have a desk, a dresser, a full sized bed, and a comfy chair. He also had a closet and his own door to one of the bathrooms, something Jesse always wished he had.

Jesse laid Hanzo on the bed, fetching an extra blanket and covering him with it. Genji followed in soon after, struggling to carry the two pieces of luggage.

“Here, lemme help ya,” Jesse took the bags from Genji and laid them on the far end of the room. Hanzo began to snore a little bit and Genji chuckled. The two left the room and closed the door. In Genji’s terms: ‘let him get his beauty sleep’.

“Bring your bags up to my room, and you can get all unpacked,” Jesse said to Genji as he started up the stairs.

Genji hauled his own bags up the stairs to Jesse’s room with Sombra’s help, and he got situated. Jesse’s room was extremely large, even larger that the master bedroom. Jesse had a full sized bed with two end tables and a bookshelf on his half of the room, while on Genji’s half there was a twin sized bed with a desk and a large set of drawers. Jesse had his own closet, so he let Genji take the drawers. Sombra closed the door shut once the two teens were in the room, and Genji began to unpack.

“I’m so excited to be here! America is so cool already, I feel like I’m on a permanent vacation.” Genji said happily as he pulled out a couple of jackets.

“Mhhmm,” Jesse responded, leaning into one of the walls.

“It was such a good idea to play video games with Sombra before I came, your sister is really cool!”

That’s when Jesse decided to attack.

“So. You’re datin’ my sister,” Jesse said matter-of-factly.

“What?” Genji whirled from his luggage, Polaroid in one hand, t-shirt in another.

“You’re datin’ my sister. That means you’re under close watch from me.” Jesse said rather intimidatingly, “You lay a single finger on her, break her heart, or even cross a line that she’d rather leave uncrossed, I will intervene. And it won’t be pretty.”

Genji immediately put down the items in his hands and stared at Jesse like a deer caught in headlights. Then he lightened up, and laughed a bit.

“Dude,” Genji said, “I’m not dating your sister.”

“What?”

“We’re not dating. But it’s nice to see she’s got a big bad brother like yourself to protect her.”

“But y’all were just acting like a couple! With all the little jokes and quiet chatterin’.”

“Nope, just friends.”

“Hmm,” Jesse sighed, leaning back into the wall he was standing in front of, he felt extremely flustered, “Sorry man, I really thought you two were a thing. Aww shit, now I feel bad. Truce?”

“Truce, I know you're cool, we all have our moments,” Genji said, then chuckled, “You really did just scare the shit out of me there, though.”

Jesse laughed, “Yeah, yeah, I’m told I have that effect on people sometimes.”

“Nothing like Hanzo though, he’s on a different plane when it comes to intimidating,” Genji said as he resumed unpacking.

“Really?” Jesse asked, as he moved towards his bed and plopped down on it, “He seemed like a pretty chill guy tonight.”

“Because he was tired, more tired than I’ve ever seen him. Just wait until the morning.” Genji replied, stacking his clothes into one of the drawers.

“It’s crazy though, you don’t seem a bit tired!” Jesse pointed out.

“Well, I got sick on the plane after eating something I probably shouldn’t have, and I passed out. I’m good for a little while, then I’ll need to sleep.”

“I get it, airport food can be really nasty.”

“Actually, it was In n Out,” Genji corrected, “Burgers just don’t sit well with me.”

“Aww shit,” Jesse realized, “Man, we were gonna have a burger night tomorrow with some of the board families to welcome y'all. Do you want us to make you something different or what?”

“I’ll still eat it.”

“But if it makes you sick-”

“Listen, I'll still eat it.” Genji finished putting away his clothes and began to unpack his second bag full of personal belongings.

Jesse repositioned himself on the bed, his back resting against the backboard, “Now that we got that whole sister thing worked out, sorry again, you gotta tell me about yourself! If you're gonna be living here for a year I should know somethin bout ya.”

“Ask away.”

“Hmm…” Jesse scratched his chin, “what's yer favorite color?”

“Green.”

“Favorite food?”

“Burgers.”

“But they make you sick!”

“Next question.”

Jesse thought for a second, “What’s Japan like?”

“Oh wow,” Genji put the last of his books on the desk and shoved the empty suitcase under his new bed, “where do I start? Should I compare it to America or Korea? I've only been to those two countries, and I've only been in one for about six hours so far.”

“Start with your life. What's school like in Japan?”

“Well it's a lot different than the states…” Genji explained how he and his brother had to take a bunch of extra courses to even be able to come to America to study. He also talked about his own life in school, what he did and who he was. They talked for a while until Genji looked as if he was going to pass out, then they decided the best course of action would be to sleep.

Jesse felt like he knew Genji pretty well before he went to sleep, and he liked him a hell of a lot more that a few hours prior. As for Hanzo, Jesse still couldn't figure out what kind of person he was exactly, but he knew he would in the morning. The man who refused all help even when he truly needed it.


	6. Chapter 6: Well shit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Y'all! Hope you're enjoying the story. I'm trying to make cover art, but it's really hard because I'm working on another project (wink wonk). I also have a chapter of HMLHA that I'm going to have beta-ed before I post it, so look out for that! (BTW that is my other story on fanfic.net that I'll post on here very soon). Happy Trails!~

Hanzo woke up to the sounds of birds chirping, and yelling coming from downstairs. He felt like he woke up at home, curled into the comfy sheets of his bed, surrounded by his belongings. But he woke up in a completely alien space. The walls sported a musty grey paint and the furniture looked old and worn. He looked out of the window and saw the silhouette of mountains in the distance, and the faint onlook of the city. This was not Japan.

He slipped out of bed, still in his clothing from yesterday. He saw his luggage at the end of the room and walked groggily over to it. He pulled out a clean long sleeved t-shirt and jeans and quickly changed into them. He then realized how much his legs ached, especially with keeping his prosthetics on all night. He sat down in the chair across the room and clicked out of them. He rubbed the skin that the prosthetics covered, then reached into his bag for a more casual pair. They were cheaper, and used for regular days or just around the house. The ones he had been wearing were meant for long days of walking or activities. He fit them on snugly, then stood up and walked out of the room.

His head was still reeling, he barely remembered anything from the night before, except for the sunset and falling into Jesse’s arms. Jesse, the unbearable. He didn’t know if it was the way he walked, the way he talked, or the clothes he wore, but it made Hanzo’s insides churn. He followed the hallway to the living room, and was hit with the subtle smell of oranges and the overwhelming scent of pancakes.

“Ahh, look who’s awake,” Genji said, serving himself another stack of the rather large pancakes.

“Dude, that’s like your third serving, wait for the rest of us!” Sombra laughed. Hanzo took his place next to his brother, and waved weakly to his friend. He looked across the table and was assaulted by two golden eyes staring back at him.

“Mornin’” Jesse drawled, taking another sip of his coffee. He spooked him again, damn it.

“Hmm,” Hanzo pinched a forced smile, then turned, stone-faced, to his brother, “<What the hell happened last night?>”

“<God, nothing! You just passed out, the American doctor said it may have been from exhaustion, and we brought you into your room.>” Genji annoyedly replied back.

“<American doctor?>” Hanzo caught, “<You took me to a hospital?!>”

“What are they saying?” Hanzo heard Jesse whisper to Sombra. Hanzo scoffed.

“I was just wondering what happened last night.”

“And no, we did not take you to a hospital, Jesse’s dad just called an ER.” Genji replied.

“Hmm,” Hanzo grunted again, and turned to Jesse, “Did you bring me inside?”

“Yeah uh, you just kind of fell into my arms, I really didn't have another choice…” Jesse trailed off, and Hanzo saw his face getting red.

“It is fine, thank you,” Hanzo said, then turned to Genji coldly, “<You let him pick me up?>”

“<We weren’t even there with you two! We were still up on the porch. What was I supposed to do, use my incredible brother-to-brother mind reading powers to stop him?>” Genji hissed back.

“Oh! Good morning, Hanzo. Are you feeling any better from last night?” Gabe walked in from the kitchen with a French press full of coffee and another plate of pancakes. He was wearing an apron that said “Kiss the Cook and I’ll punch you straight in the kisser. He sat the coffee down on the table, and Jesse reached for it quickly.

“Yes I am, thank you,” Hanzo replied, then began to serve himself. The group was enjoying their first meal at home together, which would have been pleasant if it wasn’t for the awkward tension between Hanzo and Jesse. Gabe could feel it, even though he wasn’t in the room for the previous conversation. Once pancakes were eaten and coffee cups emptied, Sombra pulled the Shimada brothers away from the dining room. Gabe made Jesse stay behind to do the dishes.

“Ok, so the student body president texted me today, and asked me to help you two get together everything you need for the school year.” Sombra explained, “Honestly, I don’t know why they trust me with this stuff, but we’ll deal. So I’m taking you two down to the school to apply for classes, and then I’ll give you a tour, how ‘bout it?”

“That sounds cool!” Genji smiled, “Could you show us the robotics lab?”

“I was planning to, since I need to pick up some work and the team is all there today.” Sombra responded. She ran back to the dining room and grabbed a set of keys from a small ceramic bowl.

“Oh hey,” Jesse called from the kitchen to Sombra, “If you see coach there, can you tell him I’ll be there at practice tomorrow? I want to help with the frosh training.”

“Sure thing, Esé,” Sombra called back, walking back to the brothers, “Come on, let’s get going.” They followed her out of the house to their pickup truck, and filed in. Genji practically begged his brother for shot-gun, which he easily gave up.

As if a curtain had been pulled back, the sun seemed to leak through the windows of the truck a lot brighter than earlier. Hanzo felt his life going somewhere, and that somewhere was temporarily away from Jesse Reyes, the annoyance.

* * *

 

Jesse watched as the group left the house to go to the school, and he felt a twinge of regret he wasn’t going with them. He felt an obligation to be with their guests and to be a leading force for them. Still, his pops held him behind, and he knew exactly why. He was about to get his ass handed to him.

The night previously, he revealed he knew jack-shit about their new roommates, and that he didn’t listen to any of the conversations they had previously. If there was one thing his dad couldn’t stand, it was people who didn’t absorb information. Someone who couldn’t follow orders because they didn’t hear the orders in the first place.

As Jesse finished bringing the last plate into the kitchen, he noticed his dad staring at him from the other end of the room, “You know why I kept you here.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Jesse sighed, “I know.”

“Don’t brush this off that easily! I asked you to do one thing Jesse, one thing. And yet you can’t even do that.” Gabe chided, “How hard was it to read a file and listen? Listen especially! Are we just that boring that you can just tune us out?”

“More like I got better things to think about, I dunno.”

“Excuse me?”

Jesse instantly regretted his words, “Sorry, I just mean I’ve had a lot on my mind recently. Could I get the file?”

Gabe sighed, “I had to return it back to the school records, but I can just tell you all that I know.”

“I guess,” Jesse said, “But there aren’t any other prosthetics I should be aware of?”

“No. Let’s go sit on the couch, you missed a lot.” Gabe walked out of the kitchen into the hallway, and Jesse adamantly followed. Gabe sat on the couch and Jesse took his adjacent place in one of the chairs.

“Now… where to start…” Gabe began, “You already know about the legs. It didn’t specify how he lost them, but it shouldn’t matter and you shouldn’t ask. He’ll tell you if he feels comfortable in doing so. There isn’t much more than that, except that they are the heirs to their family’s company, something to do with bodyguards or security or something. That wasn’t specified either. That’s… pretty much it.”

“Wow, it seems like I really did miss a lot,” Jesse said sarcastically.

“Sure, there wasn’t a lot of info they gave us, but it doesn’t matter!,” Gabe responded harshly, “You didn’t do the one thing I asked you to do, and then you brushed it off like it was no big deal.”

“Because it wasn’t? I still don’t understand why this is an issue-”

“It is an issue because you never listen to me. This was a simple job. And yet you treat it as if it's optional, and it makes it seem like you don't care.”

“I did care! I've just been caught up in so much work-”

“What work? You've been unemployed for three months now! I'd like to know what's been taking up all of your time.”

“I’ve been touring the local areas with Fareeha and playing at local coffee shops, and you know I have to deal with coach on my back for coming into practice every week, not to mention I've been Sombra’s personal chauffeur for the entire summer until she got her license. I've been busy!”

“That's still no excuse to not read a 3 page document.” Gave stopped himself, took in a large breath, and calmly exhaled, “I just need you to work with me, Jesse.”

Jesse backed down too, “I… I'm sorry for not doing that. I'm sorry I wasn't paying attention or caring. I'll do what you need me to do, but I don't want to be treated as if I sit on my ass all day doing nothing.”

“And I'm not saying you do. Just take a moment to realize that the people around you trust on you to do certain things. People look to you for help.” Suddenly there was a knock on the door, and Gabe leaned over to see who it was, “and looky here. There is a prime example of someone who looks up to you. Better go get that.”

Gabe got up with a tired groan, and walked back up the stairs, presumably to head to his office. Jesse got up from the couch, and there was another knock on the door.

“Comin’,” Jesse called out, and he walked over to the door. He opened it to find Fareeha waiting for him.

“What's up, McCree?” Fareeha held out a fist, and Jesse hit it lightly with his own.

“Nothing much, what's up?”

“Dude,” she said pointedly, “practice?”

“I told coach I wasn’t coming today, did he not get my email?”

“He did, I was talking about football.”

“Ahh shit,” Jesse realized, “Forgot about that, I’ll drive you over to the field. Did your mom really take away your car for a stupid parking ticket?”

“You know she did, thanks for driving me though.”

“Seems like I’m driving everyone around nowadays,” Jesse laughed, “We’ll have to take the van, Sombra has the truck.”

“She finally got her licence, huh.”

“Finally, thank god.”

Fareeha smiled, “Then let’s get movin’, McCree! I got plays to run!”

“You got it, QB.” Jesse joked, “The fucking Pharaoh of the field.”

“Aww, you know you love me.” She pulled Jesse out of the house, and Jesse closed the door behind him.

They both walked to the barn where the van was still parked from last night and got in. The drive was relatively short, especially since Jesse was going a bit over the speed limit to get there in time. If his dad found out, he’d be burned at the stake, but he knew that one time wouldn’t be an issue. However, this wasn’t the first or last time he would try this.

They got to student parking, and Jesse recognized one of the cars as his family’s pickup truck. He chuckled, and decided to stop and surprise his guests at the school. It would be a good moment to get to know them better, and help them get settled.

Fareeha thanked him generously, and ran off to practice. He could see the smaller freshmen in the distance running laps, while the larger juniors and seniors were yelling at them, urging them to run faster.

Jesse walked away from his car, heading into one of the many concrete buildings that the school was made up of. He was immediately stopped by a tall, strong man in his path.

“Where do you think you’re going, Mr. Reyes?” The thick german accent boomed through the hallways.

Well shit.


	7. Chapter 7: Clubs and Extracurriculars are cool, I guess

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Y'all! Not much to say this week, enjoy the chapter :).

Hanzo looked out the window, watching the many stores and businesses open up for the day. It was a lot different seeing the town in the morning than the evening. It was a lot quieter, and everyone seemed to move a lot quicker compared to the wandering tourists, as if they actually had somewhere to be. The drive to the school was incredibly short, and soon they were parking in the student lot by the football field. The sheer size of the high school shocked Hanzo; it was multiple buildings spread out over a vast piece of land, accompanied by fields of all kinds of sports. Sombra led them into the closest building. 

 

McCullough High was already full of students, even though school started in a couple weeks. Some girls were checking out their lockers and fitting pictures and shelves into them, and a group of students were excitedly talking about their new schedules. Sombra said ‘hi’ to a few of them, but was generally indifferent to the lot. She quickly turned back to the two brothers.

 

“Ok so first, we have to go sign you up for classes. Sorry, there isn’t going to be a lot available, everyone signed up last month.” Sombra led them to the main office where there was a handful of other students waiting. Hanzo picked out a few peculiar faces, one girl with bright pink hair and incredibly built muscles, one guy who had dreadlocks with green tips and an unnaturally bright smile, and a larger girl with an incredibly heavy coat on even though it was boiling outside.

 

“Sombra?” A voice called from behind them. Sombra whipped around and smiled vibrantly at the newcomer.

 

“Jackson? Dude, how are you!” She launched into a conversation with a shorter boy with vibrant orange hair. They were talking about something that Hanzo couldn’t exactly understand. It had something to do with an incorrect variable being used in place for something else and the incorrect servos being ordered.

 

“Excuse me?” Hanzo turned around to find an office worker talking to him, “Hi! Hanzo Shimada?”

 

“Yes, that’s me.”

 

“And your brother is?”

 

“This is Genji,” Hanzo pulled his brother next to him, who was surveying the many catalogs and pamphlets on the main desk.

 

“Great! My name is Ms. Dunkens. I run the office in this building and I will be helping you with your classes. Would you follow me?”

 

“Ok,” Hanzo was led into a small room off of the office where there was a desk with two chairs for him and his brother. They sat down and Ms. Dunkens handed them two packets. 

 

Sombra was right, the lists of classes available was scarce, but since he had already taken a lot of courses in Japan, he only needed a science, English, and history. He chose a math course and another elective to fill up the other spots, and gave himself a free period at the end of the day. His brother, however, needed more courses than him, and had to take an extra science.

 

“Advanced bio and computer science? God, I’m not going to survive this year.” Genji groaned. Ms. Dunkens accepted the packets back and wished the boys luck at school. They found Sombra still waiting in the office.

 

“Ok, good, boring stuff over,” Sombra smiled mischievously, “Time to show you around the place that will steal your soul and sell it to the devil.”

 

They walked around the first building, which was generally uninteresting. Most of Hanzo’s classes were in the building next door and the smallest building on the far side of campus; he didn’t need to be here. However, all of his brother’s classes were situated in this single building except for computer science. 

 

“Might as well go over to the second building and show you the lab,” Sombra shrugged and led the two over through the quad. The grassy plain connecting the buildings had not been watered all summer, to conserve water, and crunched uncomfortably under Hanzo’s prosthetics.

 

“Just so you know when school starts,” Sombra pointed to a large tree in the corner of the Quad, “That’s where Jesse hangs out with his posse, aaaand,” She pointed to a covered area on the side of the largest building, “that is where I hang out. With the cool people. You should sit with us.”

 

Genji laughed, “I think I’m going to be sticking to your side for a while, so yeah.” 

 

“Good to hear, they’ll like you,” Sombra nudged his shoulder.

 

They walked into the building Sombra was pointing to, labeled ‘Building B’. This building seemed drastically different to ‘Building A’, since it was mainly math classrooms and open spaces. The math rooms had brand new technology and the common areas had lots of seating. Some of the spaces were even set up like classrooms, open spaces with a circle a desk for a lecturer. This building led to the auditorium and basketball court, which had a handful of students practicing basketball. Sombra stopped the brothers and ran to the group.

 

“Have any of you seen Coach Wilhelm?” She asked the tallest out of the group, a scraggly pale-faced teen with wild blond hair.

 

He had an extremely thick Australian accent. “Nah mate, he left a while ago. Something ‘bout an emergency. Don’t think he’s coming back,” he replied.

 

“Thanks anyways, Jamie,” Sombra sighed, “Good luck helping the frosh later! And if coach does come back, tell him Jesse changed his mind. Those frosh kids will have to deal with him too.”

 

“Heh, they’re in for a treat. McCullough’s own power forward is gonna send them flying across the court!” Jamie laughed, then dribbled the ball back down the court to the other players.

 

Sombra ran back to the group, “Sorry, I have to handle my brother's dirty work. You guys like sports?”

 

“Nah, not my thing,” Genji waved off, “But Hanzo here-”

 

“No,” Hanzo cut him off.

 

“But aniki, you were the best at our old school!” Genji prompted, “Excuse me, Mr. Team Captain, what do you mean ‘no’?”

 

“I used to play basketball, but I never liked it,” Hanzo explained to Sombra, then harshly replied to his brother, “I was always miserable! Father made me do it, it was never my choice!”

 

“He was so good though!” Genji whined.

 

“But I no longer want to do it competitively. It takes away time from things I actually want to do.” Hanzo sighed. 

 

“Too bad, we could have used an extra,” Sombra shrugged, “I’m assistant student coach and logistics manager for the team, and I only got the job because Jesse is on the team. We could have gotten you on.”

 

“Not interested, but thank you,” Hanzo said sincerely. He really did like basketball, but the amount of time it took away from his photography and schoolwork created too much stress. 

 

“Hey, believe it or not, but the school is going to close soon. They only keep it open so long during the summer before school actually starts. Let's go stop at the lab real quick!” Sombra grabbed Genji’s wrist and led him down the hallway, and Hanzo followed. As they left the vicinity of the auditorium, Hanzo could feel a little nudge in the back of his mind, as if he knew what he was doing would upset his father. He kept reminding himself his father wasn’t there, and he was finally a free man.

 

Sombra led them away to the robotics lab, which from the outside looked like a regular classroom. However, when they entered the lab, Hanzo was immediately awestruck. The walls were lined with computers, and the center of the lab had tables hosting multiple contraptions and work stations. Each device was unique to itself, and Hanzo couldn’t keep his eyes on any one in particular. However, the newest, most advanced piece of tech took the center stage in a mini-arena constructed in the middle. It was like a mini-tank, with triangle tracks and a large battering ram on it’s top. As it moved around the arena, butting things over with its head, it made tiny beeps to correlate with when it hit something. 

 

“It’s so cute!” Genji said brightly, “What’s it called?”

 

“Bastion. That’s what my team, Beta, has been working on all summer. I wanted to name it Killer McDoomface,” Sombra turned a glaring eye to another teen in the lab, “but nooooo we had to go with something more inconspicuous.”

 

“It’s a stupid name!” The teen shouted back.

 

“Better than Bastion, Henry!”

 

Genji walked up next to the arena and watched as the robot lazily drove around, knocking down plastic cups, and beeping with joy. While he was preoccupied, Genji separated from his brother and walked around the lab, surveying the other machines. Suddenly, a very loud, rambunctious laugh filled the lab, and Hanzo turned around to find Genji talking to a very peculiar man. He was short and stout, and looked like he had been living at the school for decades. His hair was unkempt, as well as his beard, and he wore a dirty uniform covered in either transmission grease or oil. 

 

‘Must be one of his teachers,’ Hanzo thought. He really didn't have any reason to stay in the robotics lab, so he decided to go out and explore on his own. He slipped past Sombra and his brother out the door and went off into the school on his own. For once in his life, he was 100% completely alone, and it was strange but exciting. 

 

He left Sombra and his brother wondering where he could have possibly gone.

 

* * *

 

Jesse was sitting in the gym under the close eye of Coach Wilhelm. He really wasn’t supposed to be there, but his coach had forced him to stay for thirty minutes, just so he could meet the freshmen. Jesse, being the assistant team captain, was usually assigned dirty work like this. He was in charge of conditioning the younger students with the coaches, hopefully to recruit a few of them to the junior varsity team or even the varsity team when they’re older. 

 

The freshmen looked like they were straight out of middle school, small and uncoordinated. Frankly, it bored Jesse. So much so, he waited until Coach Wilhelm was talking to one of the players, and then he snuck out. Jesse crept off of the bleachers and was able to snake out through the door. As he began to briskly walk down the hallway, he bumped into another person.

 

“Sorry! Didn’t see ya there,” Jesse looked down to find eyes full of fire staring back at him, “Hanzo?”

 

“I didn’t think you would be here.” He said, coldly. ‘So mean…’ Jesse thought.

 

“I’m really not supposed to be, I had to drop off a friend. Where are you heading?” 

 

“Nowhere.”

 

“Well I’m heading home, do you want me to bring you back? Or are you waiting on the duo?” 

 

“I don’t think I need anything else here…”   
  


“Then I’ll bring you back,” Jesse tapped an inviting hand on Hanzo’s shoulder, who moved away from him. However, he followed close behind Jesse as they walked out of the building. Jesse led Hanzo back to the van, which unlocked after a furious battle between Jesse and the key not working.

 

“So, how are you liking the school?” Jesse asked as he opened up the driver’s seat to the van.

 

“It’s interesting,” Hanzo replied as he got into the car.

 

“Ok, cool,” Jesse didn’t know what he was doing wrong. Hanzo was so hard to talk to, he could barely start a conversation with him.

 

“You can play your music, by the way, if you want to.” Jesse pointed to the AUX cord. 

 

“Hmm,” Hanzo replied but didn’t take up the offer. Jesse couldn’t stand it.

 

As they drove home, Jesse kept thinking about how Hanzo kept brushing him off. When did this personal vendetta come about? More importantly, why? Jesse noticed Hanzo looking out the window, almost solemnly, and he relaxed a bit.

 

Hanzo looked… lost. As if he had been dropped on an alien planet to roam alone. Which, in fact, wasn’t too far from the truth. This was an alien place to him, and it probably was confusing and hard to navigate. But Jesse couldn’t get the idea that Hanzo disliked him so much, he wouldn’t even talk to him.

 

Jesse couldn’t have it, “So what are you into?”

 

“What?”

 

“I- uhh,” Jesse could feel his face redden; why, he wasn’t sure, “What do you like to do? Maybe there’s a club I can get you situated with before school starts.”

 

“I mean…” Hanzo turned away from the door just slightly, intrigued, “Is there a photography club?”

 

“There’s a club for just about anything, I wouldn’t second guess one for photography.” Oh thank god, Hanzo was talking to him.

 

“What clubs are you in?” 

 

This caught Jesse off guard, “Oh! Well, I’m primarily in music theater and guitar, but there are a few smaller ones.”

 

“You play guitar?” Hanzo asked.

 

“Yeah, I actually play at small coffee shops here and there, do you play an instrument?” 

 

“No, I was never one for the musical arts,” Hanzo dismissed, “but what other clubs are there? Is there a list?”

 

Jesse got the feeling Hanzo was prodding for something specific, “Yeah, I guess, but even if there isn’t a club already made, you can create your own as long as there are ten signatories and a co-leader.”

 

“Good to know,” Hanzo leaned back into his chair, thinking.

 

“I actually co-lead a club with my friend, the one I dropped off at the school.”

 

“Really? What do you lead?”   
  


“This is gonna be stupid.”

 

“I don’t mind.”

 

“D&D,” Jesse replied, a bit reluctantly.

 

Hanzo didn’t seem fazed, in fact, he seemed almost amused, “Heh. Genji plays that. Maybe you should invite him to join.”

 

“Yeah, that’d be cool.” Jesse was fucking pumped that he got a bit of insight into Hanzo’s mind, if not a small glimpse. He drove the car around the house, parking it behind the backside. It was a lot closer than the barn, and Jesse got the feeling he’d be using it a lot more. As Hanzo got out, Jesse spotted an uncertain expression blooming over his face.

 

“What’s up?”

 

“I just forgot to tell my brother that I left with you.”

 

“It’s all good. I’ll call Sombra and meet you inside.”

 

Hanzo nodded and walked around the side of the house. Jesse quickly called his sister, who didn’t seem quite phased that one of her proteges had gone missing. In fact, she sounded quite distracted. There was a lot of talking in the background, including a very pretty feminine laugh close by. Sombra hung up on Jesse mid-sentence. 

 

“Well, that doesn’t help.” Jesse sighed. He opened up his text messages.

 

_ Jesse: Picked Hanzo up at the school, please don’t lose Genji _

 

_ Sombra: Sorry for hanging up, very pretty new girl. _

 

_ Jesse: ,’:) _

 

_ Sombra: Shut up asshole _

 

_ Jesse: Can’t shut me up when I’m on teeeeext _

 

_ Jesse: Sombra? _

 

_ Jesse: Sombraaaaaaa _

 

_ Jesse: OK sure fine, see you later. _

 

Sombra probably put him on do not disturb, no big deal. He switched over to another chat room that seemed to be blowing up.

 

_ (Ph)arreha: Listen, we need 10 signatories, and after Jonesie graduated, we only have 9. _

 

_ Davis: Sure but like do we have to be a club? With the school? _

 

_ (Ph)arreha: If you want me, your glorious DM, to be able to skip practice to host… yes. _

 

_ Jesse: No doubt about it, we need to be a club for this to actually work out. Regardless, I have a 10th. _

 

_ (Ph)arreha: Welcome, cowboy. Who’s the newbie? _

 

_ Jesse: One of the Japanese kids we’re hosting. Played it in Japan apparently. I can probably get him to join. _

 

_ Davis: Ok cool I just didn’t want to have to recruit some weird 9th grader to awkwardly sit in the corner as we played _

 

_ Jesse: Yes yes we all remember last year, that was my mcfuckin fault _

 

_ (Ph)areeha: You’re actually putting mc in front of stuff again? Dude, I thought I beat that out of you _

 

_ Jesse: That’s it, your contact name is getting switched back. _

 

_ McFareeha: NOOOOO _

 

_ McFareeha: WHERE ARE YOU, I'M SKIPPING PRACTICE TO BEAT YOU AGAIN _

 

_ Jesse: I’m home, amiga. Have fun finding me _

 

_ McFareeha: McCree is dead. I killed him. You are not getting him back. I’m not letting you play your stupid custom gunslinger class anymore. good bye. Don't mess with the DM. _

 

_ Jesse: Y’know you love me~ _

 

_ McFareeha: Asshole _

 

Jesse hopped up the side-steps into the kitchen, almost bumping into Gabe as he was putting together yet another coffee.

 

“How much have you drank alone this morning?” Jesse asked as he waved to the hot mug.

 

Gabe looked down at his cup, “I… I’m not sure. Too many. I’m gonna go do paperwork.” Gabe walked past his son, patting him on the shoulder as he passed. Jesse walked into the living room, where he saw Hanzo sitting and doing something on his phone. 

 

Jesse sat across from him and pulled out his phone as it buzzed. His phone only buzzed for a few people and a few group chats, since they were the only important ones he bothered to be in contact with.

 

_ McFareeha: On a serious note, are we still co-leading SAGA this year? _

 

_ Jesse: You know it. _

 

_ McFareeha: Good good. Quick question, do the transfers know? _

 

_ Jesse: Bout wut. _

 

_ McFareeha: That you are the gayest person I have met to this day _

 

_ Jesse: No, but they’ll find out sooner or later. I’ll tell ‘em or they’ll find the club exists and yours truly co-leads. _

 

_ McFareeha: You didn’t tell them about the club? _

 

_ Jesse: No. I just… I don’t know them yet? Let me get to know them, be friends with them, then I’ll tell them. I don’t know how LGBT friendly Japan is.  _

 

_ McFareeha: My dude, they’re pretty friendly. _

 

_ Jesse: But still! I’m gonna give it some time. _

 

_ McFareeha: I get it. I’ll see you at school in two weeks, fucker. _

 

_ Jesse: Love ya too _

 

Jesse closed his phone and looked across to Hanzo, who was furiously typing away on the screen. Jesse grabbed the remote and turned the TV on, it was previously on some news channel, and he switched it to old cartoon reruns. Stuff like Tom and Jerry and The Jetsons. Hanzo didn’t even look up once.

  
Jesse knew what little conversation he had in the car was somewhat of a breakthrough between Hanzo and himself, but he didn’t expect anything other than that for the day. Hanzo at one point got up and moved to his room, and Jesse dozed off in one of the chairs. Yep, shit was sailing smoothly. He slept while his phone silently blew up with texts from Sombra about a hot girl or something. 


	8. Chapter 8: Tensions Rise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Sobs* I swwear.. I''m nnot dead,,  
> One month later and I'm back from the grave. I originally thought I'd have enough time to write this during the summer, but that has proven to be less than true. I'm leaving for a very large trip outside of the U.S. tomorrow, and I'll be gone through this week to next Monday, so I don't know if I will have a chapter for you :(. I'll have service, and I'll be talking about my adventures on my tumblr (@dannidorina) so follow me there!  
> As for the story, it's starting to pick up a bit :)) And for those in line for fluff, don't worry, I'll have something for y'all soon :).

_Hanzo: <Genji I need you to pick something up for me.> _

 

_Genji: <Where did u go?> _

 

_Hanzo: <Jesse drove me back.> _

 

_Genji: <Jesse? When did he get here?> _

 

_Hanzo: <I think he had to drop off his friend or something?> _

 

_Genji: <Well we’re in the lab still, the school is closing in like 5 minutes. What do u need?> _

 

_Hanzo: <One of those club sheets from the office.> _

 

_Genji: <Ok, I’ll run over there.> _

 

…

 

_Genji: <Do you need a sheet of the clubs available? Or a sheet to make a club?> _

 

_Hanzo: <Available.> _

 

_Genji: <I got u.> _

 

Hanzo put his phone away in his pocket and sighed. He looked over to Jesse, who had fallen asleep in one of the chairs. Some childish cartoon was playing on the screen, and Hanzo felt… bored, to say the least. He walked back to his room, and began to unpack his clothes and belongings. He had a mountain of clothes that he stuffed into the closet and dresser, then he began to put his books onto the desk. He pulled out his plethora of sketchbooks and his coloring materials. He set up a nice station for himself, placing the markers and paints into their respective drawers.

 

Hanzo grabbed his nicer prosthetics and put them next to the desk out of harm’s way. Once everything was put in its new place, Hanzo heard someone come down the stairs. He heard Gabe waking Jesse up, yelling something at him quickly, then running back up the stairs. As Hanzo got up from the desk and moved towards his dresser again, Jesse walked in through the door, not knocking. Hanzo internally groaned.

 

“Hey Hanzo! I was wondering if you wanted to come with me to pick up school supplies?” Jesse asked with an inviting grin. Hanzo slinked away from the sudden extreme friendliness.

 

“I actually have everything I need, thank you.” Hanzo answered quickly. He sat down at his desk and shuffled through his sketchbooks. He heard the clicks of the american’s obnoxious boots, and he saw a hand gingerly reach for a stray sketchbook.

 

“What are you doing.” Hanzo shot his hand forward and stopped Jesse’s prying hand.

 

“Is this your sketchbook? I was just gonna look through it-”

 

“No.”

 

“What?”

 

“No.” Hanzo replied, more sharply.

 

“What,” Jesse giggled, “Don’t want me to see anything lewd?”

 

Hanzo’s face flushed red. His sketchbooks were innocent, but the fact that Jesse even suggested that, made his blood boil, “Why are you still here?”

 

“Well I thought we were friends,” Jesse said, almost innocently, “Can’t we talk? Be buddy-buddy?”

 

“You just tried to invade something very personal to me,” Hanzo responded coldly, “I think it’s time for you to go.”

 

“Wow, ok,” Jesse sighed, “I’ll leave you be.”

 

He exited the room, and Hanzo sighed into his hands. Why did he have to be so mean? Why did he have to snap? Hanzo wasn’t usually like this. He was stern, but never snappy. Maybe it was the ‘cowboy’s carefree attitude. At least he saved himself some face with his sketchbooks. What would he think if he opened it and saw the pages and pages of dragons he drew?

 

Some of them were extremely traditional, drawn and colored with such precision it couldn’t be distinguished from the pros. Some were more cartoony, and some were doodles. If Jesse had seen them, he would think Hanzo was insane. Or at least an obsessive nerd. Both bad things.

 

It was bad enough that Hanzo was waiting in anticipation for the club sheet to see if there were artistic clubs. He desperately wanted to find people like himself, artistic and graceful, since it seems he landed in a house of rowdy miscreants.

 

‘But you don’t have to be mean,’ He told himself. He shoved his own thinking away, and got back to work. He decided that maybe drawing would help him get his mind off of the current situation. He flipped open his current sketchbook, which was cheaper and flimsier. He had a skeleton already sketched out, just lines and ideas of where limbs would go. As he began to lightly sketch out the frame of the body, his door was flung open.

 

Hanzo threw his arms out onto his sketchbook and yelped, “What?”

 

“Aww jumpy as always,” his brother chimed, strolling into the room, “What, did you think I was Jesse?”

 

“Well, I mean, I would have thought it was Jesse the way you just,” Hanzo flung his hands open, “Bursted into my room.”

 

“You’re that annoyed by him?” Genji said, pulling out the club sheet from his pocket, “Dude, lighten up! Besides, he’s hot. Is it really that bad?”

 

“What?” Hanzo was taken aback.

 

“Oh come on!” Genji threw his arms up, “I can’t be the only one who thinks he’s at least a little hot.”

 

“No I- I just think he’s annoying,” Hanzo stuttered. He felt his face growing a slight tinge of pink.

 

“Whatever you say, aniki,” Genji slyly responded, tossing the paper on the desk and turning out of the room, “Whatever you want to tell yourself.”

 

Hanzo huffed as Genji closed the door shut. He thought about Jesse, and the only word that floated to his mind was ‘pest’. This did not help explain why he began to blush a bright ruby red. Hanzo began to draw again, when he noticed the paper on his desk. He pulled a highlighter out of his drawer and got to work.

 

He scanned through the calendar of clubs, highlighting the most important ones, and making sure none of them conflicted. One club in particular caught his eye. He highlighted it wearily, and set down his pen. He shoved the paper into his folder, and got back to drawing. As his pencil glided across the page seamlessly, his mind became clouded with the mindless task. He sat there for what felt like hours, drawing out the elegant creature.

 

 

Jesse had everything he needed for his final school year messily spread on his bed. He smelled dinner being cooked from the kitchen as he unwrapped everything. He threw his books into his worn bag and put his supplies away. As he finished throwing all of his shit into place, he noticed Genji looking at him.

 

“What?” Jesse asked the other teen.

 

Genji was knocked out of his trance, “Oh shit, sorry. I dozed off.”

 

“Nah it’s all good,” Jesse chuckled, “You ready for school to start?”

 

“Believe it or not, yeah,” Genji replied, picking up his phone, “I’ve been bored out of my mind this summer, and American School is going to be exciting!”

 

“Heh, you say that now, wait till the homework starts rollin’ in.”

 

“But this year in highschool, you are getting acceptance letters?”

 

“Yeah, finally. We get to see which schools think we’re worth something.”

 

“Where did you apply?”

 

Jesse sighed, “No where big, my grades didn’t line up. How about you?”

 

Genji stopped typing on his phone and thought, “A few local universities in my area, but like, nothing huge. Wow. I never really thought about it.”

 

“What, you didn’t have the big college debut the rest of us did?”

 

“Nah, I stuck close to home,” Even though Genji sounded nonchalant about it, Jesse could see a tinge of regret in his eyes.

 

“That’s cool, I practically did as well.” Jesse heard some unintelligible shouting come from downstairs, “I’m guessing that’s dinner, let’s go.”

 

“Oh thank god, I’m starved,” Genji groaned as they left the room.

 

Hanzo showed up late for dinner and his hands looked stained. However, Jesse didn’t notice due to the giant ass tattoo displayed on Hanzo’s left arm. He realized how the other teen had always worn some kind of sleeve, and this was the first time he saw it. To say the least, Jesse was flabbergasted.

 

“Oh wow,” Jesse started, staring at the intricacies, “Oh wow.”

 

“What?” Hanzo asked, then looked at his arm, “Oh. Did you not notice it?”

 

“You had it covered up, like, the entire time you were here Aniki,” Genji replied.

 

“You have a tattoo?” Sombra exclaimed loudly as she walked out of the kitchen with a stewpot.

 

“Hey I do too,” Genji pouted, pulling up his right pant leg. Jesse craned his neck to look at the brother’s tattoo. They both were dragons, coiling around their appendages in a flurry of blue and green respectively. Jesse’s eyes sparkled with ideas.

 

“Hey pa?-” Jesse started.

 

“Absolutely not,” Gabe answered as he walked into the dining room with a dish of tortillas.

 

“Wait y’didn’t even hear-”

 

“I didn’t have to.” Gabe smirked, “You’re never getting a tattoo under this roof, no matter how many sketches or ideas you show me.” Jesse sighed, ‘aww’, while the rest of the food was being put out on the table.

 

“So how did you get them?” Sombra asked Genji, “Did you get them together? Did your parents approve?” She gasped, “Did you do it behind their backs, ninja-style?”

 

“Nah nah,” Genji laughed, “It’s traditional! Hanzo knows all about it.”

 

The group looked to the other teen who froze, “Hmm? Oh yeah, the dragons. Well…” Hanzo launched into an explanation of their family’s lore and how the Shimada’s all had a symbol of their legacy on their body. To be completely honest, Jesse didn’t listen to a word. He felt his brain slowly fall away, and he realized how exhausted he was.

 

He had spent the entire day with people, especially the brothers, which surprised him. He was not the most extroverted person, and needed time to himself. On days when he would perform at cafes, he would isolate himself from the world until the performance, and then not talk to anyone for the rest of the evening. The amount of social contact he had that day alone was… strange.

 

As Hanzo continued with his explanation, Jesse found himself with a growing headache. He needed to be alone, quickly, in a quiet place where no one could bother him. Simply, he needed to reset.

 

“Thanks for dinner, y’all, I’m goin’ to bed early tonight.” Jesse said, cutting off the Shimada brother, grabbing his jacket from his chair.

 

“Really? You? Going to bed early?” Gabe almost asked in disbelief, “And you barely touched your food. It’s been like, what, fifteen minutes?”

 

“Yeah, just got a bit of a headache. Nothing a good night’s sleep can take care of. And I’m really not that hungry, I picked up something from the fruit lady before I got home.”

 

“Fine, get some rest,” Gabe waved Jesse off to his room, “Take an advil or something.”

 

“Sweet dreams, don't let the bed bugs bite.” Sombra teased.

 

“Don't worry, they'll get to ya first,” Jesse mumbled as he walked past the table. As he made his way to his room, he realized how shitty he felt. Not his headache, but rather how he’d been acting. He just got up, right in the middle of Hanzo’s story, and left. ‘Why do you care?’ Jesse asked himself. ‘Well he’s our guest and all and’ Jesse replied to his own thought. Jesse was right; they were his guests. But guests that would stay with them for an entire school year, every day of the week, at almost every waking minute. The thought made Jesse’s insides churn.

 

He liked them, even if Hanzo wasn’t the nicest person in the world, and he thought they were cool. But it struck him, He hated the fact that he had to share a home to two outsiders. ‘Jesse what the fuck’ he screamed at himself, but he ignored his own conscious. He blurred out his entire mind, trying not to think of what was going on or what he was thinking. He rolled into bed, put his earbuds in, played some definitely-not-country music, and forced himself to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can y'all just kiss and make up?


	9. Chapter 9: Tensions Clash and Gabe is a Good Dad

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Friend: Dude when are you gonna update  
> Me: What?  
> Friend: Your stories?? The McHanzo Highschool and the Hacked!Genji? When's it gonna happen?  
> Me: It's only been a couple weeks dude...  
> Friend:...  
> Me: What????  
> Friend: It's been two months, asshole.  
> Me:...  
> Friend:...
> 
> I am so sorry y'all! This last summer was INSANE. I have the bug bites and venture crew patches to show for it. I was in Minnesota on a canoeing trip all around the Canadian border!! And then I was working for the rest of the summer w/ university courses, so... no updates :(. Except, I'm alive now! I'm a teacher's assistant first period, and I'm a fast worker, so I can actually write when I'm in here, so expect more updates! I'm updating The Last Time I Cry next, but I highly doubt any of you McHanzo people are reading a slightly McGenji story. Damn my multishipping heart!!! Well see yall soon :)  
> Happy trails~

A couple days before school started, Jesse found himself practically begging for some old-and-forgotten god to smite him. He hadn't talked to anyone all day, and he was constantly plagued by his new housemates.

 

Genji was always with him. He was there when he slept, when he ate, and even had the guts to brush his teeth when Jesse was in the shower. That was the most upsetting of the bunch. It wouldn't be that bad, if it wasn't for all the talking. Genji was such a charismatic person, he was hard to ignore. It was tiring.

 

As for Hanzo, he was practically never there. Jesse couldn't help but feel as if he was only rooming for an education and food, cut out the rest of the project. It’s not that Jesse was selfish, or that he didn’t like Hanzo; he just thought it was kind of sad. Even though he was rough around the edges and a little bit scary, Jesse had the feeling he was a good person. He hoped that his perception was true.

 

With the two brothers acting strangely in their own peculiar ways, Jesse was exhausted. He didn’t realize adding two other members to the family would be so strenuous.

 

He was laying down on the couch, his favorite afternoon past time. Genji was sitting on the chair next to him, and Sombra was across the room. Jesse had the feeling they were texting each other, because the rings and buzzes were in-sync. As Jesse began to fall slowly into a nap, the front door was suddenly flung open.

 

“Jesse where the fuck are you?” Fareeha yelled into the house. Jesse shot up from the couch, startled.

 

“Jesus fuck! Did ya have to scream like that? What if my pops was home?” Jesse tiredly scowled.

 

“No time for questions, the club sheet is due early.”

 

“How early?”

 

“Like, today, early.”

 

Jesse’s eyes shot open, “Today?! School hasn’t even started yet! What the fuck?”

 

“I know, we gotta go, I got to borrow the car so we can go around town and pick up the signatures.” Fareeha explained, “Can you please get your lazy ass up now so we can speed this up?”

 

“Hold on, give me the paper.” Fareeha was hesitant at first, but she walked in and handed Jesse the paper.

 

Jesse stood up and walked over to Genji, who he realized had earbuds in, “Hey Genji?” Genji looked up and pulled an earbud out.

 

“What’s up? And why are you all screaming?”

 

Jesse shook his head, “Not important, can you sign this? It’s just for out dungeons and dragons club to exist, and if you wanted to play, you’d get a secured seat at the table.”

 

“And if I don’t?” Genji asked, smirking mischievously.

 

“More like, why wouldn’t you? It’s just to help create the club, you don’t actually have to show up.” Fareeha pushed the paper closer to the transfer.

 

“Ha I’m just joking, I’ll sign. And I’ll show up, D&D is my shit. Hey! Maybe ask Hanzo to join!”

 

“Hanzo?” Jesse asked, he honestly didn’t think Hanzo was interested in anything fun. Or anything at all.

 

“Yeah! He was our DM back in Hanamura, you should totally get him in on this!”

 

“Might as well grab his signature Jesse,” Fareeha handed him a signatory sheet, “Then we don’t have to stop all the way at Marcus’ house. I’d rather not drive forty minutes out of town.” Jesse nodded and grabbed the sheet from his friend, and walked down the hall.

 

As he walked, he thought of what he should say. Once he reached the door, Jesse wasn’t ready for the door to swing open violently and Hanzo to practically run head first into his chest.

 

“Woah there!” Jesse backed up, putting his hands on the Shimada’s shoulders. Hanzo quickly pulled away, and stormed down the hallway.

 

“Genji,” Hanzo fumed, “Why are my expensive watercolors gone?”

 

“Gone?” Genji asked.  


“Water… colors?” Jesse followed up.

 

“Yes, the nice liquid ones from the small shop in China. The ones father bought for me on my birthday. The ones you already stole from and I found an assortment of purple dick drawings the very same day.”

 

“Ohhh,” Genji responded, “I think mom put them in my bag because they wouldn’t fit in your art thing. Pretty sure they’re on my dresser upstairs.”

 

“Good.” Hanzo huffed, as he began to march up the stairs.

 

‘He just totally ignored me,’ Jesse thought, but then shook himself to his senses, “Hanzo wait!” He bounded up the stairs to catch up with the angry brother. He saw the door to his room slightly ajar, and he followed in. He saw Hanzo at the dresser, gathering the small vials of paint into their case.

 

“Hey, um, Hanzo?” Jesse asked softly, tapping the door to alert Hanzo to his presence.

 

“Yes?” Hanzo asked, not fully paying attention to the other teen.

 

“Umm, I was wondering if maybe y’could-” Jesse was cut off by Hanzo whipping around with the paints in hand, and briskly walking out the door, “Wait!”

 

“You can talk and follow me,” Hanzo replied, “Unless you’re incapable of doing two things at once.”

 

Ouch. “Now wait just a second, I was just gonna ask ya if you could sign this thing for a club we run at the school, no need to be rude about it.”

 

“Rude. Heh. My apologies if I sounded like I did not care.”

 

“Thank ya-”

 

Hanzo turned around with a sarcastic pouty face, “I do, truly, care deeply about your cowboy appreciation club. And totally not about the expensive art supplies that my brother ruins daily.”

 

“Jesus, Hanzo, I was asking about a fuckin’ DnD club, Genji thought you’d be interested.” Hanzo stopped halfway down the stairs, and turned back around. Jesse could tell he was intrigued, but he wasn’t about to stop his rant now, “If y’could just stop and listen for a second, and not ignore me like ya have been, I could actually get some reasonable suggestions in.”

 

Hanzo looked a little taken aback, “Ok. You just need me to sign?”

 

“Yes,” Jesse sighed, “Right here, if ya don’t mind.” He flipped the piece of paper open and handed Hanzo a gross, clammy pen. Hanzo took the pen hesitantly, and quickly signed his name on the sheet. He shoved the pen back to the other teen and wiped his hands on his pants with disgust.

 

“Thank ya kindly,” Jesse tipped his hat, passing by Hanzo on the staircase. He felt extremely annoyed and a little bit hurt, but he continued onward. He walked back to the duo, who were getting ready to leave to hit the town. Jesse pushed the previous encounter behind him, but Hanzo couldn’t get his mind off of it.

* * *

 

Hanzo traveled back to his room in silence. He heard the front door close with a satisfactory thump. Once he thought he was safe from prying eyes, he let his shoulders drop. ‘It’s been _weeks,_ you idiot.’ he told himself, ‘Why are you such an ass? Why can’t you let yourself relax? Is your head that far up your ass to let yourself go a little?’ He felt his pride and his secludedness nip at his mind. He didn’t know how to feel, he was happy that he was given his space, but then again he felt so… lonely.

 

He flung himself across the room, dropping himself satisfactorily on the mattress. He groaned, and only looked up from the comforter when his phone began to buzz. The text was in Japanese, so Hanzo thought it was his brother. He was surprised to find a text from his father.

 

_Otosan: <How have classes been going.> _

 

_Hanzo: <They haven’t started yet. We will be starting next week.> _

 

_Otosan: <How are your roommates? Genji seems to like them, with how many instagram photos he’s been posting.> _

 

_Hanzo: <… Interesting. And does Genji know you follow his instagram? I don’t think he does.> _

 

_Otosan: <From what he’s posted, I don’t think so either. But he shouldn’t have to know, you two should be completely ok with us monitoring your lives.> _

 

That hit a wrong chord with him. HIs parents have always been protective, but monitoring? He was almost eighteen, and his brother was less than a year behind him. Did his parents still have to “monitor” them? Hanzo put his phone back on the charger, making sure he didn’t open his father’s text so he wasn’t ‘left on read’.

 

He felt his mind begin to swim, and he didn’t know where to start. School hadn’t even started yet, but he could feel the pressure. Hanzo felt a hitch in the back of his throat, and an intense, hot swelling behind his eyes. His nose began to burn and sniffle, and Hanzo hated it. His body would prepare himself to burst into tears, but no tears ever came. He just sat there in bed, his body slowly convulsing with symptoms. As he sat in silence, he heard a soft knock on the door. He quickly rubbed his face, trying to remove the red puffiness under his eyes.

 

“Come in.” Hanzo called out softly, his voice warbling. He was surprised to see Gabe walk into his room, “I’m sorry, I didn’t even hear you come home.”

 

“No worries, I try to be rather quiet anyways. I wanted to ask what you felt like for dinner I’m heading to the market-” Hanzo tried to hide a sniffle as Gabe talked, “... soon. Are you ok?”

 

“What?” Hanzo tried to play it off, “Yeah I’m fine. Could you make the chicken we had a couple weeks ago? The lemon one?”

 

Gabe looked at him with a tired, knowing face. He softly moved over to the teen, “Can I sit?” Hanzo was hesitant, but he nodded softly. Gabe moved towards his bed and sat next to him with a huff. He slumped his shoulders and took a second to think.

 

“What’s the matter? It looks like you’ve been crying.” Gabe said, a tinge of worry in his voice.

 

Hanzo felt the back of his neck bristle with goosebumps, “Funnily enough, I have not.”

 

“But are you ok?”

 

That made Hanzo think. Was he ok? “I… I’m not sure.”

 

“You wanna talk about it?”

 

“No…” Hanzo said hesitantly, “I think I’m going to be fine.”

 

“You think you’re going to be fine,” Gabe copied, “But you only think so. That leads to a lot of unopened doors, Hanzo.” Hanzo looked at Gabe quizzically. “I’ve learned this from a very long line of experiences, don’t wait too late to ask for help. But also, don’t wait too long to fight those battles head on. They seem to have a way of festering.” Hanzo nodded, processing what was said to him. Gabe patted him on the shoulder, “I’m going to head to the market now, and if you need to talk to anyone, you have all of us. Sombra has been Jesse’s personal therapist for years.” Gabe chuckled at a joke that Hanzo wouldn’t have gotten.

 

As Gabe began to leave, Hanzo softly spoke up, “Thank you, Gabe.” Gabe smiled at him, and walked out of the door. Hanzo was left to his own thoughts, with Gabe having left as quickly as he returned. He felt like he wasn’t as twisted up as before, and he felt his mind shift onto a different track.

 

He had a lot to think about.


End file.
